How Can Boston Celtics Get Under the Luxury Tax?

How Can Boston Celtics Get Under the Luxury Tax?

what’s up bro what’s going on boys what are your thoughts on the final so far and is Indiana uh did they use all of their ammunition in in game one yeah they got their one miraculous come back in they won a series now at this point it seems like so it’s good for them to get that out of the way um I honestly thought guys the Thunder I was kind of stunned that the Thunder like they changed their starting lineup going into game one um and went you know and didn’t really play they’ve been playing double bigs all year really didn’t play any of it and even went took home grain and hard sign out of the lineup at points during crunch time in game one and so um I think they corrected that in game two both of those guys saw bigger minutes and the Pacers obviously came back to earth a little bit so it’s fun that we got a competitive game here i’ve been taught not to count out these paces at this point just based on Halleurn’s postseason run but ultimately the Thunder are the the you know the superior team here they’ve led now for what like 90 94 minutes of the series through two games so barring a a Celtics like collapse that we saw in second round and another game in the series um I think you feel pretty good about the Thunder chance at this point you know B Rob I asked this question a couple days ago i want to get your take on it if you are a Celtics fan which result makes you feel better about where you’re going forward is it Indiana winning hey Pacers won the championship i guess this rebuild or this retooling won’t be as uh painful as I thought or is it OKC winning and you’re like “Okay yeah they are super team but not in my conference don’t have to worry about it.” What What makes you feel better uh which championship which championship team would you feel better about yeah I love that question like honestly I think you feel better if the Pacers win um just because the Thunder aren’t going anywhere for a while and so if they’re if they’re still coming up short now like when you’re if this is the beginning of two or three for the Thunder and that’s like a that’s a pretty tall mountain for the Celtics to climb um once Tatum gets back um but if the Pacers win now then it’s like everything’s on the table I feel like going forward like anyone can win on any given year in this new NBA under this new CVA and so I think that bodess well for the August because inevitably the East is the is not even close to the Western Conference in terms of you know talent up you know through the playoff picture and that’s certainly a place where it’s going to be easier for the Celtics to to get back because you’re not going to be scared of the Pacers you’re like there this is their core they’re not adding anything to this and it’s a it’s a it’s a good scrappy team but it’s one that ultimately the Sel should be able to beat if Brad Stevens you know pushes the right buttons in the next year or two now look I I agree with you and I can’t I can’t lie and say I came into this postseason envious of the of the Pacers roster but I have to say bro Rob look they’ve done something in player development that maybe the Celtics need to pay attention to they get something out of They’ve gotten something out of N Smith they’ve gotten some uh something out of Obi Toppin they get something every now and then out of Mather i mean you you look at some of the guys and you say “Well that that guy’s not really special.” But Rick Carile is able to reach deep into the bag and whether it’s eight minutes here or 22 minutes from a player who is not necessarily a star he is able to salvage something and I think the Celtics if Jason Tatum is out most of next year or all of next year that’s really got to be something that they have in their repertoire to even have a decent season without a doubt you look at I mean look at Nissiff look at Obie Topphen these are guys that are you know they aren’t like totally cases for for upgrades elsewhere and they just they have found the guys to your point Mike like that just fit their system well on offense and they play a really I think a really enjoyable type of offense where everyone’s moving everyone’s involved it’s unpredictable um it’s not you know 50 or 63s a night and anyone can hurt you as we saw in game one there so yeah I think going into this off seasonason the Celtics as they have a whatever we want to call this year a bridge year gap year whatever it’s going to be uh finding guys like this and the deals that are inevitably coming is going to be big because you need you’re going to have to find good balance around Jason Tatum and certainly Jaylen Brown you like who whoever’s whoever’s left here going forward finding guys like the Pacers have you know one through eight one through nine is going to be a big part of the Southern getting back up to the top of the Eastern Conference I feel like in a year or two under this new CBA where it’s going to just be tougher to find and add those type of guys when you’re paying out you know one or two supermax contracts to your best players all right so you mentioned the inevitable deals that are that are coming here drew Holiday you wrote about you know here today about you know what the prospects are for him porzingis obviously would be another guy you know do you think about Brown do you think about White like do you anticipate anything maybe that we’re not focusing on because everybody understands like okay Holiday’s gone Porcenis is got to be gone right i mean is but will they is there an appetite or would there be a deal out there if they wanted to go big as far as moving one of the bigger pieces on the roster yeah it’s I think it all depends on the market that’s out there for for guys like Drew and Porzingis i think the default option is those guys because they’re they’re older or their contracts are expiring um so they don’t necessarily in Drew’s case doesn’t necessarily fit the timeline with Tatum as we get later in this decade and Porzingis he’s obviously been a big part of their you know the last two years but how reliable is he is he going to do you want to pay his next contract what is that going to cost and so that’s those are easy easier pieces to move now if the market isn’t there for those guys and and the other question is like what this new ownership that’s coming in like what’s the mandate like are they what’s what’s the spending are they okay being uh a tax team for the foreseeable future and that is now they’re a repeater tax team so the the price is quite high there obviously they’re not going to pay full freight of you know the $500 million that they’re projected to right now but are they okay paying like $300 million and staying over the tax a little bit for even a year like this when Tatum is out that is I think certainly going to inform Brad Steven’s decision to a degree we’re not going to know that until we see some of these news but inevitably if they need to cut money and the market for Porzingis and Drew Holiday is not as good as people might think it is then I think options like okay what what type of Hall can we get for Jaylen Brown what type of Hall can we get for Derek White you don’t want to trade those guys but those would be avenues you have to explore in those on the front just in case you get bowled over or in case you can kind of reload and and fit into the payroll even better if you’re if the the goal is to maybe even like do something bigger like getting under the tax this year then that involves cutting $50 million um of this payroll and then that is when you could see some even more drastic things than trading a Drew Holiday or a trading versus so given that everybody in the league kind of understands the situation that the Celtics are in if you’re Brad Stevens what what are you reasonably hoping to get in return other than cap space for either one of those guys yeah it’s with Drew Holiday i think you want to get back i mean ideally you I think when they sign those deals they just hope Ryan were going to be positive value deals in a sense like you’re not you’re not getting anything up to get off them for Drew Holiday like Drew Holidayiday is paid well he’s obviously been a proven playoff player for a while he’s could help a ton of teams around the league right now the question is is like okay is he worth paying 30 is some team will only to take on you know $34 million a year for the next three years to take him on so ideally like you’re getting um you know some a couple movable contracts back i don’t think you’re going to get any job capital back for him or for Zingis unless other stuff’s involved but just getting players that help that maybe someone promising but certainly helps you cut the payroll when you move them and then inevitably if you get you know two guys making $13 million back from Drew Holiday then if you want to cut more money from those those are guys it’s easier to move smaller contracts in the NBA so that that could lead to another deal down the line or two and then inevitably you get to where you want to go without having to touch the rest of your core i think ideally that’s what they want to do um if they move those guys but again they they’re not going to want to take back another big contract long-term contract unless it’s a guy they see as being part of their future and it’s it’s hard to find see the market for Drew Holiday or Porzingis being someone like that at this point no listen i I’ll tell both of you I’m not hoping for any result when when I say this I’m not hoping for anything but I I read a story over the weekend about Celtics ownership and how Bill Chisum needed to raise that last you know bit of of money to make sure that everything was all secure that the 6.1 billion and he needed to rally some people to get the numbers he was able to get the numbers so he was able to raise a cool billion dollars so quickly that I’ve never heard this term before Bro you tell me i’m not a business person but the term was now they are oversubscribed the sub meaning that we we got more people who want in so much so many people offering us money we can’t take them we can’t take I’m sorry your money’s like when they oversell an airplane and they you can’t get your seat we’re over booked we’re over subscribed so if they’re in that position I just wonder is there some kind of wild card coming is there from this group maybe this group is like “Hey we can sustain more than people think we can.” Uh and and maybe the fire sale that you expect or the the shedding that you expect is not necessarily going to happen the way you think it’s going to happen do you think do you see any scenario like that cuz I don’t I don’t I think that those guys are leaving but and maybe there’s something I’m missing here yeah it’s it’s a fascinating one i it’s hard to envision that for just this upcoming season of them like maintaining a crazy peril just with the situation with Tatum because it’s kind of like why would you do that this year now would they do that a year from now when Tatum comes back and you’re like listen we’re ready to spend a ton we’re just going to we’re going to take a break we’re going to kind of take it back you know walk it back this year when TM’s getting healthy and then we’ll be able to spend crazy amounts again i know they got you know some guy like one of India’s wealthiest families that that’s one of the the new investors in here that Mattel if he if he’s willing to spend that crazy money then like that that’s great news for Brad Stevens from a standpoint of like that helps teams around the league being like okay maybe the Celtics don’t have to cut as much money maybe and and obviously opens up doors in terms of getting creative with deals and being able to take back more money than we expect them to but ultimately this is a money question mark I’m with Like I would be surprised if that there the payroll only goes down you know they just barely get under the second apron this year u but still are paying tons of tax and the repeater tax because that is still a cra that’s still a record amount of money for them to be spending as a franchise i would be the biggest bill they’ve paid so far and it’s hard to envision them doing that in a year like this when obviously their their title prospects will be potentially dead on arrival if Tatum obviously is out for the year all right Brian Rob you can read his Celtics coverage at masslive.com b Rob appreciate it this morning all right thanks for having me guys if you like that clip check out more videos from Toucher and Hardy here for more Celtics analysis and opinion hit this playlist and for all the latest from the sports hub download the app at 985thesportshub.com

Brian Robb of MassLive.com joined Ryan Johnston and Michael Holley to discuss ways for the Boston Celtics to get under the NBA luxury tax aprons.

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